When the Bough Breaks
When the Bough Breaks is the fifth episode of of the second season of Castle. Summary A woman who is an illegal immigrant is found dead in a manhole, prompting Castle and Beckett to uncover a dark secret about a successful doctor, and a possible connection between his son, and that of the victim. At the same time, Castle's first book based on Beckett, Heat Wave, is released to rave reviews, and he is offered the writing opportunity of a lifetime, causing him to struggle with the fact that accepting the new gig would end his partnership with Beckett. Plot Paula Haas, Richard Castle's agent, shows up to tell him that he has been offered the contract for three books on a certain British secret spy. Castle is thrilled. This series inspired him to be a writer in the first place, but there's one catch: he can hardly follow Beckett if he's working this new project instead of Nikki Heat. Elsewhere, Kate Beckett and company investigate a murder scene where a Caucasian female is found murdered in a manhole. From the candy wrapper found on her clothing, Castle deduces she is a Czech immigrant. From the shop where the candy was sold, Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan find out the place where the immigrant, Eliška Sokol lived. At her apartment, Castle finds a picture hidden behind a dresser. It is of a woman and a child, and the woman's face is scratched scratched out. Martha Rodgers makes Castle doubt his contribution to solving cases and when he learns Beckett has already located the woman in the picture, his fears deepen that Beckett doesn't need him. The hotel manager says that Eliška used to work there and she was fired when Melissa Talbot registered a complaint against her. Ms. Talbot tells them that Eliška would often be overfamiliar with her son Zane and give him chocolates and lollipops. Eliška's husband, Teodor Hajek tells Castle and Beckett that she left him when their three year old son died. With seemingly no leads, they check on the apartment once again and find a tenant who tells them Eliška had an argument with a man who resembles Dr. Cameron Talbot, Melissa's husband. At his office, Talbot confesses that he was having an affair with Eliška and when she got too close to his family, he got her fired. He is alibied out by his head nurse, who says he was at the hospital all night on the day of the murder. At the gala opening of Heat Wave, Beckett is touched by his dedication to her and the precinct. Castle mentions his "british secret agent" deal, trying to see if she wants him to keep working with her or if she really is as annoyed by his presence as she claims. Beckett clearly doesn't want Castle to leave, but doesn't want to admit it, either. So Castle and Beckett argue, a row that ends with Castle deciding to take the deal. The next day, Beckett is still angry with Castle, who stops by only to pick up his sungalsses. By chance, Castle overhears that Eliška had a prior incident at a playground, where she was again overly-friendly with another boy at a park. Meanwhile, the landlord has asked permission to rent out the apartment as Eliška's rent was paid till Friday. As the rent is taken weekly, Castle reasons that someone else must have paid this week's rent. When the landlord states that a blonde woman has been taking all of Eliška's mail, they conclude it must be Melissa Talbot, and stake out the apartment to catch her in the act. Beckett points out that this is ironic, since the police don't go through unopened mail without a warrant. Whatever incriminating evidence she's been trying to intercept, the police wouldn't have found it. Her attempt to cover up the evidence is what exposed her. Castle, complimenting her on her correct use of irony, is glad that even though he's leaving, he's left good grammar in his wake. Beckett, meanwhile, realizes that Castle really is leaving and hides her grief-stricken face from him. But when the blonde woman shows up, it isn't Melissa Talbot at all-- it turns out to be the head nurse of Dr. Talbot's office. The nurse confirms that the alibi she'd given Dr. Talbot was a lie. Talbot had his nurse pay for the extra week of rent and collect the mail every day, so she could intercept the letter. She was intercepting money he'd mailed the victim, to help him cover the affair. Meanwhile, Esposito and Ryan have tracked down the woman in the playground. They discover that her son was born the same day, in the same hospital, as Eliška's son. Castle suddenly realizes that the Talbot boy may have been born at the same time as well, and that this is the hospital where Talbot works. They call in the Talbots and tell them Eliška had done a mail order DNA test on the swabs she had used on Zane Talbot while giving him the candy. When he realizes that they have the DNA results, Dr. Talbot breaks down and confesses that Melissa's boy had Niemann Pick syndrome. This debilitating disease is incurable and fatal within a couple years. Facing years of raising a sick son, only for him to die young anyway, he had switched the name tags on the baby's cribs so that his wife could take home Eliska's healthy boy as her own. There was no affair; Cameron killed her to cover up the baby swap; after searching her apartment he'd found the lab paperwork. Melissa Talbot had no idea about the substitution. She later invites Teodor to her home to see Zane. While he will not take him away from her, they will both have a hand in raising his son. She asks about her own son, the son she never met, and he gives her a photo. With the case over, Castle and Beckett are about to go their separate ways. Suddenly, their phones ring. Beckett's on with Montgomery, and Castle with his agent. Sales of Heat Wave are through the roof... and the publisher is making a very generous offer for three more Nikki Heat books. With that much money in play, Castle tells Paula to forget the British deal. There's just one catch... Meanwhile, Paula has already contacted the Mayor and asked him to ask the NYPD to allow Castle to stay. With the Mayor facing re-election and her work with Castle good publicity, Montgomery orders Beckett to keep Castle around until those books are done. Horrified, Castle insists to Beckett that this wasn't his idea, but she is furious. Before Beckett can respond, the phone rings... it's another murder. They both run out to fight crime together as the screen fades. Promo 500px|left Cast Main Cast *Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle *Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett *Jon Huertas as Detective Javier Esposito *Seamus Dever as Detective Kevin Ryan *Tamala R. Jones as Dr. Lanie Parish *Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Captain Roy Montgomery *Molly C. Quinn as Alexis Castle *Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers Guest Stars * Elaine Hendrix as Melissa Talbot * Debi Mazar as Paula Haas * Reed Diamond as Dr. Cameron Talbot * Diana Maria Riva as Detective Roselyn Karpowski * Arye Gross as Sidney Perlmutter * Ivo Nandi as Teodor Hajek * Jeff Doucette as Super * Timi Prulhiere as Talbot's Nurse * Francisco Viana as Manager * Griffin Cleveland as Zane Talbot * John Brantley Cole Jr. as Officer Clayton Lee Featured Music 205